Boxer Rubin Carter, who inspired Denzel Washignton’s 1999 film The Hurricane, has died. The athlete passed away in his sleep in Toronto Sunday morning. According to reports, he suffered from complications due to prostate cancer.

Carter, who was an intentionally known middleweight boxing contender, spent 19 years in prison for a triple murder he did not commit. His wrongful murder conviction inspired director Norman Jewison to make the Oscar-nominated film based on his life. Upon his release in 1985, Carter became the first executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 to 2004.